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MORTGAGE FINANCE
Goldman can't buy Fannie Mae assets
The Obama administration on Friday denied Goldman Sachs's offer to buy millions of dollars in assets from struggling mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae.
The offer was not a good deal for taxpayers, according to an administration official. "In short, withholding approval of the proposed sale affords more protection of the taxpayers than does providing approval," the official said.
Goldman wanted to buy millions of dollars in Fannie Mae assets in part because it would provide a tax benefit. The discussion had focused on Fannie's low-income tax credits, which companies can accumulate and then deduct from their income tax bill or sell to other firms.
The Treasury Department, which weighed in on the matter because the federal government seized District-based Fannie Mae in September 2008, delivered the denial letter Friday afternoon. A Goldman Sachs spokesman declined to comment.
-- Renae Merle
Fannie files claims against Lehman
Fannie Mae, the money-losing mortgage-finance company seized by regulators, said it has $15.8 billion in claims against bankrupt securities firm Lehman Brothers Holdings that it will at best partially recover.
"Based on Lehman Brothers' financial condition, we believe we will only receive a portion of these claims," District-based Fannie Mae said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. The announcement came as the company posted its ninth-straight quarterly loss, of $18.9 billion, and said it will need $15 billion more in federal aid.
